Like a Harbor to a Weary Sailor
by TekoloKuautli
Summary: Sawada Tsunae discovers she was reincarnated as the protagonist of a world that should have stayed a fantasy. While others may panic and prepare to enter the fray this particular girl is a realist: she doesn't stand a chance at running from the mafia and doesn't want to waste her new life as an underworld boss. Nope. She places her bet on the strongest player in the game.
1. Prologue

**Prologue **

A small girl of less than 3 years of age stood in front of a completely unassuming door on a small shopping district. The child, with fluffy brown hair and eyes the color of a setting sunset would have held more the attention of passersby had she looked lost instead of confident. Not that a toddler could look confident but if the little one wasn't in distress and seemed to know the place then surely her parents weren't far.

People could encase themselves in their own assumptions and accept them as the only truth.

Still, she waited. And continued to wait for more than thirty minutes, barely shifting her weigh from one leg to another.

Finally when the mark was nearing fifty-six the door opened. The girl exhaled in relief because she had begun to attract the stares of concerned people who had begun to hover nearby. It made her smile a little, in a small way people showed concern if you paid attention. And if you let yourself open up some of them would offer a helping hand, a few honest words of advice and then leave your life for good.

Looking up, orange eyes traveled up the insanely tall figure of a man wearing a traditionally modest but of top quality yukata, with odd white hair, hard to place mixed features and big shiny glasses.

The cold gaze was more unsettling than she thought it would be though. And even after all these years seeing completely black eyes was always freaky, it reminded her of a narcotic addict with fully dilated pupils.

"Well?" demanded the man in a deep but smooth voice.

"Good morning, sir. If I may, could I speak to you in private?" asked the girl with a nod and a smile.

Manners were everything when you wanted to speak business.

The man seemed to glare despite not having furrowed his brow or frowned at all. But she felt grateful when he stepped back inside and let her in. Walking to the back was a room with a couple chairs and a small table. He sat down and didn't bother to indicate she should sit or offered tea. Which she was fine with, even if she wasn't showing it she was nervous.

"What do you want." Spoke the man without inflection, making it hard to determine if he was even surprised or uninterested.

"I want to confirm something first, to know I'm speaking to the right person if I can though. Are you Kawahira-san?"

There was a pause in which she wavered whether to sit on the tall chair or not. It was rather tall. When a shadow obscured her view suddenly. The white haired man was menacingly standing over the girl's tiny form.

"Who are you?" there was a big threat layered in his tone of voice. But the girl only looked on serenely.

"I am not sure how or why, but it seems I retained the memories of my past life." She said without preamble, orange eyes flashing with resolve and certainty. "In this new life I am named Sawada Tsunae. And before this life, I had read a story with a setting identical to this world."

They stood in silence. The self-proclaimed reincarnated soul and the ancient man of an extinct race. The old mind behind young eyes revealing everything in that outrageous statement.

Perhaps he could detect lies just like the toddler seemed to be able to do now because he calmly walked to a stove near and began to prepare tea.

Tsunae smiled and proceeded to attempt to climb the freakishly big chair.

It was quite hard, with limbs too weak and small. Having used up most of her energy to get to this place undetected. The toddler was heaving and sweating and was utterly surprised when she was gently picked up by big elegant hands under her armpits to sit her on the chair.

She smiled brightly at the now frowning man.

He had already placed the tea on the table and sat opposite her. He crossed a leg over the other and laced his fingers, staring with more interest than he had shown so far.

"… and this story. What does it involve for my name to be in it?"

Tsunae took her time reaching cautiously for the cup, more because of the temperature making contact with her very delicate tongue than fear of being poisoned.

"It was a very cheesy story of a young teenager who discovers he was the heir to a mafia family and was sent a tutor to train him as the next generation's boss." She paused to gauge his reaction. "To be the Tenth Boss of the Vongola."

If he was surprised he didn't show it. She took a sip of her tea and was amazed by how rich it was in flavor. Black tea wasn't her favorite but it was so delicious the girl took another gulp.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, the story was cheesy because everything was narrated through the rose-tinted glasses of the protagonist, I imagine it was a lot darker in reality but because of censure during publishing it wasn't shown."

Nonchalantly saying so she continued. Her tone wasn't that affected but she was furrowing her brows at the liquid now.

"The name of the protagonist was one Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"And that is you brother or yourself?" Kawahira asked.

The toddler smiled bitterly. Especially because she knew her expression must remind the man of the Arcobaleno.

"I replaced Tsunayoshi and was born female, despite that I am my own person and refuse to follow the 'plot' laid out for me."

Tsunae looked into the eyes of the ancient.

"I have information I am sure will solve a lot of problems, even if many events have yet to have come to pass… one of those is a better solution regarding the Arcobaleno System."

Kawahira tensed and Tsunae wondered if he was going to kill her. Information that sensitive likely triggered an instant defensive reaction.

"… I am not sure it would be a good idea to let you go with that much information. If you know about me and what I am capable of then what are you so desperate to avoid to throw caution to the wind?"

_What makes you so certain I won't kill you after you tell me everything you know? What fate awaiting for you is worse than death?_ She heard him say.

Tsunae hummed calmly.

"Simply put I don't want to be enslaved in everything but name and the idea of having to go through someone else's plans for my entire second life is beyond horrid. Besides that, I can't in good conscience not offer help when this world is dying. I am not selfless, but a system that requires constant sacrifices as fuel is very unstable and bound to fail sometime down the line… I know it is only natural to eliminate such a breach on the security of this world. That is why I came here this early, just in case I falter later."

_I don't want to get too attached_.

"You mentioned enslavement. What do you mean by that?" he asked, seemingly calmed down himself. Maybe. At least he took his own cup for a sip.

"In a few years Sawada Iemitsu will come back to this town with Timoteo di Vongola, maybe when I am six give or take; Vongola will come to assess Iemitsu's child for their flame potential. In the story, Tsunayoshi activated them unconsciously and Iemitsu begged Timoteo to seal his son's flames."

Kawahira paused and arched an incredulous eyebrow.

"Oh? That is rather bold."

Tsunae wasn't sure what he was referring to, the mafia boss overstepping his own laws, the act of sealing the potential of a child or that she mentioned this danger in her future so obviously in an attempt to get help.

She downed the rest of her cup and set it down. Nodding at him.

"Tsunayoshi's flames being sealed meant he failed at everything and with his Intuition not as suppressed but his mind addled he became a paranoid mess of a whinny teenager." She paused, the next part was only speculation but she decided to share it anyway. "And for some reason the whole town rejected him on principle, even his own mother."

Here Tsunae frowned, the Nana that birthed her was strange. A child would have found her touch and smiles loving but this one girl had experienced the true warmth of a loving if overbearing family before. Sawada Nana was a distant mother who only did the bare minimum to keep her child healthy, entertained and spoken to.

A scoff roused her from her thoughts. Kawahira stood to refill their cups.

"Of course that would happen, Sky attraction doesn't desist even with a seal. But without Harmony it becomes a target for animosity." He sat down again and looked with his dark eyes into the distance. "A Sky without Harmony is as good as a disabled person."

Tsunae flinched. When the silence stretched too long she took the cup again, this time to clear her suddenly dry throat.

"Yes, and years later that child had zero self-esteem. In an internal conflict, Vongola lost all its heirs. That meant the forgotten sealed kid was sought after to succeed the family."

"A rather convenient thing that the last heir happened to lack influences, direction, knowledge, self-esteem or ambition." Commented the white haired man. "Why did you say it was a cheesy story? That sounds more like a criminal drama."

Tsunae's lips twitched. He wasn't wrong, it sounded an awful lot like the beginning of a tragic tale.

"It was narrated through Tsunayoshi's point of view, he had a rather Cinderella feel to him; he didn't expect anything from life and his ego was already run to the ground before it fully formed, he dreamed of big adventures, making friends and becoming an admired hero…" she didn't need to continue, Kawahira's slight grimace was enough to tell her what he thought about that.

Why bother telling what the obvious pointed at? A manipulative expert on all things mafia walks into the picture and voila, you have a perfect heir complete with strings attached for puppeteering fingers. Ideals were so easily reached if you didn't care for the method.

Sawada Tsunayoshi had sworn up and down he wouldn't become a mafia boss and yet his ten years older self never changed careers through the series. And he never made much effort to deny it in actions. Not when the acceptance of everyone around his new heroic life revolved around superpowers and saving the day.

Reborn was a cunning hitman without a shred of mercy when it came to manipulating wide-eyed children.

"Back to the topic, what do you know about the Arcobaleno System?" Tsunae was jolted out of her too deep thoughts, and smiled in relief.

Even if he didn't help her and killed her she was thankful, the woman in a child's body was tired of acting as a baby and this was the first real honest conversation she had had since her death and rebirth. Squaring her shoulders and relaxing she sipped her tea.

Calm settled in Tsunae's soul. She would keep her freedom or die, simple as that.


	2. Derailed Plans

**Derailed Plans**

Tsunae laid on her back staring at the ceiling. She was back on the residence she had lived in since her rebirth and had hardly paid any attention to how she came back here.

Nana hadn't batted an eyelash when she had entered through the sliding glass door from the garden, merely smiled and said,

"My, Tsu-chan sure is impatient, food will be ready in a couple of hours though."

The woman then turned back to humming at the stove, not even noticing how sweaty, tired and numb her 'Tsu-chan' had come. Normally she would be slightly indignant at the treatment but right then she didn't give a fuck.

She had climbed the stairs and threw herself on the bed, too drained to even muster any kind of strong emotion save for disappointment.

In many ways that meeting she had carefully planned and had tried to control to no avail was her ticket out of this hell hole. Her success meant he would help her keep her freedom, her loss her death.

Kawahira chose to do neither.

A sudden headache threatened to split her head and Tsunae was helpless to stop it. Thankfully, the whole ordeal had exhausted her almost three years old body and she passed out shortly thereafter.

~x~

"Here we are, Tsu-chan!" Nana smiled happily at the playground in front of them, tugging her daughter from one hand gently. Her unimpressed daughter.

The playground was inside a slightly bigger park where running people could be seen, full of brats that were bigger than her. Tsunae could see many ways a toddler could get hurt by said kids here.

She was pushed forward by the woman, smile eternally fixed in place.

Tsunae wanted to plop into the grass and not get up. Preferably never. But Nana wasn't giving her a choice in the matter, she proceeded to advance to a bench with their bentos, a book and a big thermos full of tea. Before the girl could debate ignoring her the woman fixed her smile on her and suddenly she felt a chill run down her back. The smile was warm and happy, but it hadn't moved a millimeter and the seconds continued to tick by.

After about twenty seconds Tsunae stiffly turned around and made her way deeper into the playground, when she looked back Nana was elegantly serving herself tea and opening her book.

If the girl wasn't sure she had the so called hyper intuition she would have said it was a fluke.

Damn anime moms… She hoped it was that.

Deciding there was nothing she could do about it she shrugged. Maybe she could find a quiet place to lie down.

But dear god, these brats were awfully loud, high pitched screams and yells all around.

Tsunae found the swings but they were a little too high to get into and her motivation to make the work nonexistent; the slide was full and all kids were running with too much energy to use it; the jungle gym was an option but likewise too transited.

Then she spotted the tunnels, there was a section perfect for kids under the age of five. Tsunae almost smiled and went to secure her hidey hole to mop into eternity.

The fluffy haired girl crawled into the smooth darkness and almost immediately relaxed, she went to the very middle where the sun could not enter and laid down in her stomach. From there she could see a small part of the playground, children playing and running. Laughter abounded.

She didn't understand what went wrong in that meeting with Kawahira. She was sure he would kill her or make use of her, for which he would have to secure her at his side.

Instead, the man had simply told her he was going to check the method she mentioned by using the Black Flames of the Vindice. And when she asked what about her, he had callously said,

"Your problems or ambitions mean nothing to me."

_Why?!_ The toddler smacked her pudgy fragile fist into the metal tunnel.

Her knowing was a breach of information, she never planned to this situation. Nothing had changed, even the situation with Vongola or the Mare Rings with Byakuran didn't make a dent on his indifference. Because apparently, 'human affairs' that didn't affect the balance directly were unimportant, so long as someone was holding them to keep the flames stable it didn't matter who they were or what they did with that power.

Warm tears surprised her when they fell on her cheeks and arms. Tears of frustration.

The very reason of seeking that old man was to end this unnecessary drama. Her name may be Sawada Tsunae now, but she didn't feel like it was truly _hers_. She didn't want a danger radar inside her head, or a position at the head of a criminal syndicate, or being forcefully bonded to a bunch of screwed up teenagers, she didn't want to have to face assassination attempts on a daily basis or being forced into a puppet role to satisfy the greedy interests of others. Most of all, she didn't want to be careful about who she could talk to or not, fearful of the danger her attention would put them in.

What kind of life was that? She would rather die.

Her lip was trembling and as the tears flowed freely the girl was in a state of pure despair. What was she going to do now? The Arcobaleno curse would be lifted soon yeah, but that only meant the hitman tutor she would receive would be an adult, not a baby. If anything, escaping the adult Reborn would be even worse.

And as much as it grated, she didn't want to end her life herself. Suicide was something she never wanted to truly contemplate, it felt like a crime. The worst kind of sin in her personal belief.

"_Hick_, ow!" something just hit her leg and Tsunae shifted slightly on her side to look at the other end of the tunnel.

It was a kid glaring at her, legs inside and expression screaming at her to get out so he could enter himself. He looked around her age.

But Tsunae wasn't a distraught mess for nothing and the fact that the snot-nosed brat just kicked her meant he didn't mind a few kicks himself. So that's what she did.

"Ow!" his utterly surprised expression would have been cute had the girl not been seething in rage.

The kid recovered fast though, and soon both were kicking at the other with all their might.

Seeing as she had the advantage since he wasn't fully inside and couldn't see that well into the dark tunnel the boy eventually scurried out and just as Tsunae thought she had won the brat had unexpectedly grabbed her left leg and pulled her back outside.

After screaming in indignation she was blinded by the bright sunlight and the merciless brat used the opportunity to kick her prone form on the ground.

_Oh, it was so on._

Tsunae made use of her intuition to cheat and tackled the boy like a football player on his unguarded side.

Distantly she heard the screams and yells of the other kids around them as they both rolled on the ground, kicking, punching, pulling and biting like savages.

This went on for a little while, with Tsunae spilling her many frustrations and dashed hopes into beating a little kid to the ground. Later on she would be so ashamed she would want to drown in alcohol to forget. But damn if the imp wasn't asking for it.

"Kyoya." Spoke a deep masculine voice that stilled the brat's frantic movements and in turn her own. They both began to catch their breaths to look up.

A very tall man was standing not far from them with a deep frown, he wore semi-formal clothes in black. Very attractive man. But it was the name he spoke that froze Tsunae completely. Surely it was a very common name.

"Ara, Tsu-chan! You made a friend! Mama is so proud of you." Somehow Nana had made an appearance and was taking pictures with a camera nonstop, Tsunae hadn't noticed her stash it on her purse at the house.

Both kids were gaping at the adults, though even the man was staring at Nana now.

Seeing as her mother was still taking pictures Tsunae scrambled off from the kid, noting with satisfaction the forming bruises, scratches and cuts even as she felt her own set too.

The kid slowly stood up too, wincing at the look the adult gave him or maybe because of the pain. Then glaring at the ground. Silence pervaded for a moment save for the clicking of the camera. Tsunae swore to destroy it as soon as possible.

"Oh, look at how dirty you have become, we can't have that; but since you had fun then it's fine, Tsu-chan." Gosh, the woman was embarrassing and weird. Her past mother would have checked her for injuries and then screeched when they were out of earshot.

Admittedly, the threat of having this recorded for years to come was good incentive to cease and desist.

Then unbelievably Nana turned towards the man.

"It is the first time my Tsu-chan shows interest in other children, I am sorry if she was too enthusiastic." She spoke in such a dreamy and pleasant voice you wouldn't think anything was out of the norm.

_Really, mother?_ Tsunae's face was on fire now, her only consolation being everyone thought of her as a little kid.

The man. Hibari senior? Looked at his own kid, then at Tsunae and smirked, making the girl's intuition ping in unease.

"Really? Kyoya is the same. I am sure he would be glad to meet his new friend sometime again."

'Kyoya' jerked his head as if to deny this with wide eyes.

"Oh! That would be wonderful, isn't it, Tsu-chan?" Nana turned her sunny smile her way and once again felt that chill down her back, that unflinching smile that didn't move and even began to make the brat at her side shift as if making an aborted move to curl up and hide.

"… Yes?" Thankfully her halfhearted answer seemed to be the right one because both kids suddenly sagged at being released from that smile.

"How rude of me, my name is Sawada Nana and this is my daughter Tsunae." She bowed formally to the man.

"Hibari Akio and Hibari Kyoya." The man nodded confidently, apparently not noticing the woman intimidating his own son into submission.

Then both parents pulled out their cellphones and exchanged information.

By the time Tsunae was back home freshly out of the bath and her minor injuries taken care of (a surprise Nana even pulled the first aid kit, let alone carefully dress her wounds) she looked at the ceiling again and the only thing she could say was,

"Life sucks."


	3. New Day

**New Day**

The distant sound of birds outside the open window received the little toddler into the waking world. Said child laid there, wrapped snugly in an assortment of blankets and mattresses. She didn't want to wake up, didn't want to face another day in this alien reality.

Alas, the pressing need of a bathroom made itself known as well as her ravenous stomach. Both reminding her of how much maintenance a rapidly growing body had, she needed small portions of food at constant intervals. Thankfully not every three hours as she hazily remembered from her first year. Another annoying fact was how energetic she was at waking hours, she either had two modes: sugar-high and zombie. Hence why she was trembling full of energy wanting to be set free even if her adult mind protested loudly.

Sighing, Tsunae let go of her warm pupa of blankets and made her way to the bathroom. It was after pulling the footstool and reaching to clean her face and teeth that the little girl paused to examine the reflection.

It was always a shock even if she knew what she looked like, saw and touched everything from a perspective closer to the ground. Too small, too young, too pale, too round, hair too fluffy and eyes too orange. The once-woman would be hard pressed to lie if someone asked if she liked her new body. She didn't even feel guilty of robbing someone from their rightful life or taking the innocent child that should have been her new mother's. In fact, Tsunae was resentful.

A bubble of ugly emotions rose up from her chest, throat and almost escaped her mouth if she didn't clench her teeth to contain it. Tearing up, big orange eyes closed as the young reincarnation did her morning calming exercises.

One breathe in, one breath out, in, out, in, out…

Finally, her mood under control, the fluffy haired kid reached for her toothbrush and mechanically washed her mouth without truly seeing her reflection.

Tsunae contemplated how her coping mechanisms weren't healthy at all. But it was hard to find your footing when your very life and body were swapped with another's. As it stood the only things that she could control were the preparations before Tsunayoshi's destiny squashed her.

First up: Hibari Kyoya.

The girl wasn't arrogant enough to believe she would be able to sway any kid's future if she tried. As an adult she understood that people were more complex and willful than she used to believe, and that in the grand scheme of things it was hard to sway one's course of action when they decided it. From what she remembered Hibari was the epitome of bullheaded alpha male with a violent streak full of animal kingdom philosophies.

That said however, she refused to be a doormat. Like hell will she let a crazy brat beat her up for fun. If anything she will teach this kid that if he pushed, she would push back. With interests and in other nonviolent ways that would smart for _weeks_.

And who knew, if he got stubborn he could prove to be a useful… outlet.

"Ah!" Tsunae dropped her toothbrush at the positively fiendish expression from the toddler in the mirror.

Hand over her racing heart, for a moment she had thought before her was one of the Arcobaleno.

˜ x ˜

It took a few hours before she felt ready enough to come down to the kitchen where Nana was happily sipping tea at the table, an open book and some photos spread around it.

"Good morning, Tsu-chan! Come here and help Mama choose the best pictures for the new album." Without waiting for her response she swept her up by the armpits and sat her on her lap. It turned out the book was in reality a photo album of cartoonish designs of animals and plants around the empty picture slots, new if the plastic wrapping on the trashcan was any indication.

Nana turned to the first page where she saw in place of honor a photo of herself and yesterday's brat rolling in the dirt and for all intents and purposes looking like they both were doing their damnedest to cat fight it out. And when she said cat fight it really was: the boy was pulling her hair while she was biting his arm.

Tsunae felt herself blush to the roots of her hair and down her neck.

The next pictures were other artistic snapshots of the fight, them looking dumbly at the camera in shock and finally a photo of both standing side by side mulishly looking away from each other scuffed up and dirt caked. Suddenly she heard what Nana was saying.

"You were so cute, Tsu-chan, I'm glad you finally connected with someone else." At this Tsunae had to look into the young mother's face. Nana was looking at her with a soft smile that constricted her heart. It made her mouth feel dry and her eyes moist. Words sprang free without her brain's consent.

"The pictures look good, like from a magazine." Where did that come from? The girl thought in confusion. True, they were amazing photos coming from a camera a few years before they could be digitally focused, especially capturing such a blurry scene...

"Oh, you think so? I admit it was the first time I ever used a camera for something like this." The woman seemed delighted at her child's compliment.

It suited her, the fluffy haired toddler decided. Did she ever do anything other than cook and clean? Maybe a hobby that could turn into a profession should be in order. Being a housewife for an absent husband was a waste of her talents.

It definitely was a waste for her to do nothing else for a child that was not even a child.

Maybe it was the sudden exhaustion of the past couple of days, the emotional roller coaster that threatened to crush her. It was kind of liberating though, with her plan of the past three years in ashes at her feet and with the uncertain but bloody future ahead of her it felt a lot like she had hit rock bottom. There was nothing else to do but to go up.

"I want to see more of your pictures." Said so with a small smile she knew Nana would do it, no parent could resist showing off to their eager children. With a squeal, the woman hugged the kid close to her bosom and peppered kisses on the top of her fluffy brown hair.

Maybe she could allow herself to get attached, thought Tsunae as she returned the hug with a hidden timid smile, it truly was unfair the distance she put between herself and Nana. And even if she never could bring herself to call her 'Mama', she could still call her 'Ka-chan'.

Time would catch up to her, but when the time came she would struggle and never yield to destiny. This was her life, unwanted though it was, she would make the most of it.


End file.
